Whimsical Penelope’s 12”

Merry Go Round

A beautiful 12″ square that can be transformed from motif, to tote, to market bag, to afghan, or even a wall hanging. It’s simple, elegant, and easy. If you know a bit about my Coraline Line and her adventures, you would think she was the artsy one in her family. Her sister Penelope is all whimsy! Before getting married last week, she lived in a renovated, 1800s cottage at the edge of the woods. She taught private classes at the outdoor painting studio on her property and she owns and teaches at a dance studio in a neighboring town. Penelope’s world is full of color and she explains her “Mind Music” as swirls and whirls of colorful patterns and kaleidoscopes.

Penelope chose the colors for her new home with her husband and they have asked me to design a square for her that she can use in her decor. What do you think? Pillows? Wall hangings? Afghans? What will you make with this free 12 inch square crochet pattern?

Special Stitches
My understanding is that a bobble is worked from the wrong side, but I work from the right side and push them forward because I love how it looks.

Beg bobble – Consists of a chain 3 plus 4 treble stitches together, worked in the same space.
To execute this stitch, chain 3 (1 loop on hook), * yo twice, insert hook, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through 2 * (2 loops on hook), repeat from * to * until you have 5 loops on your hook, yo, push the stitches toward you, pull though all loops on the hook, yo, pull through. One loop on hook. One beg bobble completed.

Bobble – 5 treble (triple) together, worked in the same space.
To execute this stitch, treble crochet stitch (1 loop on hook), * yo twice, insert hook, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2, yo, pull through 2 * (2 loops on hook), repeat from * to * until you have 6 loops on your hook, yo, push the stitches toward you, pull though all loops on the hook, yo, pull through. One loop on hook. One bobble completed.

Split single crochet – A modification on the traditional single crochet, insert into the very center of the stitch that looks like an upside-down “V”, yo, pull up a loop (2 loops on hook), yo, pull through both loops. One loop on hook. One split single crochet completed.

Round 2: Using Cherry, join with a sl st into any ch-1 space, beg bobble in the same ch-1 space, ch 2, continue working in the ch-1 spaces only *bobble in the next ch-1 space, ch 2* repeat from * to * 11 more times, sl st to top of first bobble – 12 bobbles, 12 ch-2 spaces

Round 3: Slip stitch into the next chain space, continue working in the chain-spaces only [beg bobble, ch 2, bobble, ch 2 in the same space], [bobble, ch 2] twice in each ch-2 space around, using next color, join with a sl st, fasten off – 24 bobbles, 24 ch-2 spaces

Round 4: Using Soft Taupe, ch 4 in any ch-2 space (counts as first tr), * 2 dc in the next space, 3 hdc in next ch-2 space, 2 sc in next ch-2 space, 3 hdc in next ch-2 space, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, [in the next space 2 tr, ch 2, 2 tr] , repeat from * 2 more times, 2 dc in the next space, 3 hdc in next ch-2 space, 2 sc in next ch-2 space, 3 hdc in next ch-2 space, 2 dc in next ch-2 space, in the beginning ch-2 space 2 tr, ch 2, tr, using next color sl st to the first tr of the round. – 64 sts, 4 ch-2 spaces

Round 5: Using Aqua, ch 1, sc in the same as the sl st, sc 14 working in each stitch, * [in the corner ch-2 space, sc, ch 1, sc], sc 16, repeat from * 3 more times, sc, using next color, join with a sl st – 72 sts, 4 ch-1 spaces

NOTE: When you work the split single crochet, make sure you pull every loop WAY up to the height of a traditional single crochet. If you don’t, you’ll have a hair-pulling time getting your hook in there the next round.

Thank you! I just got word from my technical writer and made changes. I’ll have her review and compare. (I love getting notes. I really, really appreciate it. There can be too many hats to wear. That’s for sure!)